“A world in which people know how to solve
their problems in peace without violence; a world
of freedom and mutual respect; a world where all
young people can look forward to finding work that
allows them to live a happy life.”
That, in his own words, is the world that a young man
from my country would like to see. His name is Damian
Vogt. He is in this Hall and represents Switzerland’s
youth at the United Nations. This week we work here
together to make that world a reality.
A little more than a year ago, another young person
stood in this very place and addressed the world. She
said:
(spoke in English)
“I speak not for myself, but for all girls and
boys ... Those who have fought for their rights:
their right to live in peace; their right to be treated
with dignity; their right to equality of opportunity;
their right to be educated.”
(spoke in French)
The entire world still remembers the words of
Malala Yousafzai. The entire world still remembers
her courage. What a difference in the lives that Malala
and Damian have known. What a difference between
going to school only at the risk of your life and going
to school as a right — the right to a better life. And yet,
Malala and Damian, like millions of other young people
around the globe, want exactly the same thing: peace,
human dignity, freedom and equality, an education, and
an opportunity to work. The youth of today have a right
to expect from all of us, we who represent the nations,
that we truly will be united in our commitment to do
everything within our power to place in their hands
tomorrow a world where humanity is synonymous with
security, freedom and prosperity.
It is a century now since the outbreak of the First
World War, and 75 years since the beginning of the
Second World War. The memory of those cataclysmic
events imposes a duty on humankind to work towards
greater security and freedom, to bring about the
conditions for prosperity, and to become an Organization
of genuinely united nations that is effective as a true
assembly of States at the service of the people. Here
at the heart of the United Nations, Switzerland wishes
to do its part by making the following twin objectives
a priority: strengthening international security and
reforming the United Nations.
The security challenges are immense. At no time
since the Second World War has humankind seen so
many people displaced. More than 50 million men,
women and children have been torn from their homes.
The story of each and every one of them is a human
tragedy. Caught up in this current of insecurity are
also 75 million young people who, without work, face
a future without prospects. We are talking about one
young person in 10 in the world, and in certain regions
one in two. Worse still, in ever more regions throughout
the globe there are waves of instability assailing the rule
of international law and, in particular the principles of
humanitarian law, which are being ignored, violated,
and swept away in the deluge.
This is extremely worrisome in the Middle East,
above all in Syria and Iraq. Switzerland condemns in
the strongest terms the brutal acts of the self-proclaimed
Islamic State and the groups that have allied themselves
with it. Islam can, and must, like other religions, be a
messenger of peace, humanity and fraternity. As for the
nations, they can and must be truly united as a constant
reminder at all times and in all places of the supremacy
of law over force.
Where serious violations occur, investigations must
be carried out. Here, the independent commissions of
inquiry play an essential role, especially that of the
Independent International Commission of Inquiry
on the Syrian Arab Republic, to allow for genuine
reconciliation and lasting peace. Switzerland and 60
other States have requested the Security Council to
refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal
Court. We have also committed ourselves to an increase
in our humanitarian aid in the region. The crisis in
Syria must be dealt with as a whole, and we call on the
parties to return to the negotiating table and to work
towards a political solution.
Switzerland calls on the Iraqi Government to
ensure accountability. It joins the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights in calling on Iraq to
consider accession to the Rome Statute.
With regard to all forms of extremism that can
lead to acts of terrorism, it is important also to address
their root causes to show young people that violence
holds out no promise for the future. The establishment
in Geneva of the Global Community Engagement and
Resilience Fund was an important step in this direction.
The world in 2014 has witnessed a conjunction of
many crises — in the Middle East, in the Maghreb, in
Africa, and also in Europe, where war returned this
year with the crisis in Ukraine. This situation weakens
the security of the entire continent.Violations of the
Helsinki principles and of international law, whether
in the form of an illegal annexation of territory, such
as that of Crimea by Russia, or of military incursions
in eastern Ukraine, demand a firm response from the
international community. But such a response must also
be balanced, leaving room for dialogue and cooperation
so that open discussion remains possible. To simply
isolate Russia from the rest of Europe will not solve
any problems and will only create more, in Europe and
beyond. Stability can be restored in Ukraine and in
Europe if we succeed in resolving this crisis by working
with Russia, not against it.
That stability will be all the more sustainable if the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) — of which Switzerland this year holds the
chairmanship — is able to re-establish a firm basis for
security cooperation between the Euro-Atlantic and
Eurasian regions. Switzerland, in its capacity as current
chair of the OSCE, fully supports the vital work of the
contact group for Ukraine and Russia. We are currently
taking steps to increase funding for the special civil
monitoring mission, that will also require additional
support from the participating States, and we welcome
the excellent cooperation with the United Nations.
In today’s unstable world, Switzerland has made
an active commitment to achieving greater security
by focusing its efforts there where it can make the
greatest contribution — the prevention of conflicts.
The prevention of violence means, first and foremost
making certain that a proper education is available to all
and that there are opportunities for every young person.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s Global Education
First Initiative. Switzerland is working to promote
education through massive open online courses and
seeks to encourage the development of dual vocational
training, combining school studies with on-the-job
apprenticeships. This calls for a joint commitment on
the part of the State and the social partners.
In addition, preventing tensions from arising
requires knowing how to give everyone a voice. At the
heart of Switzerland’s history lies a willingness to share
power, to engage in direct dialogue with minorities,
and to distribute authority between central and local
government — an emphasis on consultation rather than
on confrontation. In order to better prevent and manage
tensions in the world, we must strengthen the mediation
capacities of both the United Nations and regional
security organizations, particularly those of the largest
among them, the OSCE.
Switzerland has decided to augment its
contributions to international development and
humanitarian cooperation. In the coming year we will
be allocating funds for this purpose amounting to the
equivalent of 0.5 per cent of our gross national income.
In other words, to help the neediest inhabitants of our
planet, each person in Switzerland will be contributing
a little over one dollar every day.
The post-2015 process provides us with the chance
to transform the world’s challenges into opportunities.
There must be a single agenda for universal sustainable
development, with shared objectives. We must all act
to ensure that they are truly achieved. If all nations
are genuinely united, it lies within our power to
make certain that no one in the world need face a
future of destitute poverty. It is within our power to
make certain that the creation of jobs and wealth, and
thus also companies doing business contribute to the
development of human rights and help to foster respect
for the limited resources of this Earth.
Today there are crises that cannot wait for the
outcome of discussions on an agenda, no matter how
sustainable it may be. Switzerland has increased its
humanitarian commitment to the fight against the
horror of Ebola. Swiss-based research centres, among
the best in the world, are working to arrange for the
clinical testing of vaccines. Similarly, we must also do
all we can every day to protect the world’s youth from
the horrors of war. The place of children and young
people is in school and with their families and not on
the battlefield. Switzerland is intensifying its efforts to
provide better health protection for women, especially
young girls, and has also launched an action plan to
combat the phenomenon of child soldiers, who are
being deprived ofthe right to be simply children.
In order to meet these challenges we will need not
only the common will of the United Nations but also an
organization that functions in an effective, transparent,
and democratic fashion. “We the peoples of the United
Nations” are the opening words of the United Nations
Charter. They are a reminder that the United Nations
must first listen to and serve the people of this world.
In concrete terms, this means that it must strengthen
bodies that are dedicated to the prevention of conflicts.
Switzerland applauds the initiative of the Secretary-
General to strengthen the commitment of the United
Nations to human rights, particularly in sensitive
regions. My country has launched an appeal for the
allocation of additional funds for those important
activities.
There is also a need to strengthen the United Nations
special political missions to prevent conflicts and
reinforce the activity of the Peacebuilding Commission.
The United Nations must devote all its energy to its
work in the field to serve the people. It must avoid
getting lost in an administrative maze. Together with
eight other countries, Switzerland has commissioned
a group of experts to draft recommendations for the
reform of planning and budgeting processes.
Lastly, the ability of the United Nations to be
effective in dealing with the challenges it faces depends
on the legitimacy it enjoys as well as its ability to be
transparent and inclusive in the Security Council. The
permanent members ought not to use their veto to block
action designed to prevent or put an end to genocide,
crimes against humanity, or war crimes. Switzerland
welcomes the French initiative for a voluntary
agreement by the five permanent members to restrain
their veto power in cases of mass atrocities.
One day, many years ago, a young man travelling
across the north of Italy was horrified by the suffering
he witnessed on the battlefield at Solferino in the 1800s.
The young man’s name was Henri Dunant. With the
help of local women, he cared for the wounded soldiers.
Later, when he returned home to Geneva, he dedicated
himself to raising public awareness of the tragedy that
had taken place. Through his commitment, the Red Cross
Movement was born. Through his persistence, the first
Geneva Convention was signed, 150 years ago in 1864.
This document — which I am holding up here and will
give to the President of the General Assembly — is a
reproduction of the original, in which States committed
themselves to providing assistance to wounded soldiers
and ensuring respect for humanitarian principles. Thus,
international humanitarian law was born.
Yet today, 150 years later, humanitarian law is
too often violated or ignored. Switzerland and the
International Committee of the Red Cross were
given a mandate to consult States and to issue
recommendations. We will present next year a specific
proposal to strengthen respect for humanitarian
law and to put in place some joint machinery and an
institutional framework. For the past 150 years, the
spirit of Geneva, the spirit of international law, has
shone forth throughout the world like a beacon, a place
of peace, a home to humanitarianism and a refuge for
humankind. Geneva is a gift, both for Switzerland and
for the world, and we would like to strengthen its role
further by finding useful solutions for humankind. Like
Malala and Damian, Henri Dunant dreamed of peace,
freedom and prosperity for the world. His story — the
story of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions — is
a message of commitment. The action of each one of us
can make a difference.
In a few days, Switzerland will rename one of the
highest mountain peaks in the Alps. It will henceforth
be known as Dunant Peak, after Henri Dunant, the
first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Here, where
the nations come together, we have the power to
move mountains, as long as we stand united, working
together to make the dreams of Damian and Malala and
all young people in the world a reality. We owe them
a better world. We are capable of building that world
together, if we find the will to work as nations truly
united in dialogue and action — united nations, whose
Governments draw their strength from the people, for
the people; united nations who draw their inspiration
from the youth for the youth.